Who is the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition?

Our mission is to reverse the trend of mass incarceration in Colorado. We are a coalition of nearly 7,000 individual members and over 100 faith and community organizations who have united to stop perpetual prison expansion in Colorado through policy and sentence reform.

Our chief areas of interest include drug policy reform, women in prison, racial injustice, the impact of incarceration on children and families, the problems associated with re-entry and stopping the practice of using private prisons in our state.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

There is a only a small number of women that can participate in this program, but it will give them a sense of hope, so that when they leave prison they feel that they have a marketable skill that may keep them from coming back. What would be best, is if companies like these would have jobs waiting for these folks when they are released, or at least set up referrals so that they have a better shot at being successful.

When Terri Moore is released from the Colorado Women's Correctional Facility in Canon City today, after serving two and a half years for fraud, she'll re-enter society with a brighter future than most felons. That's because she has spent the past 15 months working five days a week on the Colorado Department of Corrections IT help desk -- and she has already drawn interest from a company that hires ex-cons.

"I've gained a lot there," said Moore, explaining that the job has helped her deal with anxieties she once had over working with or talking to people.

Moore participated in an innovative program developed by the Colorado Department of Corrections in which a handful of female inmates from the nearby women's prison have been working on the agency's IT help desk since 2005. Corrections officials came up with the idea in the face of planned IT cutbacks.